Constant velocity joint



E. B. ANDERSON CONSTANT VELOCITY JOINT Dec. 18, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 fnLz/enl or/ fdnzund' CZncZerJon Filed March 1, 1947 D 8, 1951 E. B.- ANDERSON CONSTANT VELOCITY JOINT Filed March 1, 1947 2 SI'XEETS-SHEET 2 39- J2 I r 35 j 24! 'w ll. 1g 1% Patented Dec. 18, 1951 2,579,356 CONSTANT VELOCITY JOINT Edmund B. Anderson, Rockford, 111., assignor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application March 1, 1947, Serial No. 731,776

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to universal joints of the type in which torque is transmitted from av driving member to a driven member through the medium of torque-transmitting .elements, such as bearing balls, drivingly engaged in raceways formed in the respective driving and driven members and adapted to have their movements controlled by piloting means, such as a ball cage or retainer, to operate in a plane constantly bisecting the angle between the axes of the driving and driven members in each position of relative adjustment thereof so that the speed of rotation ofthemembers always remains the same to provide a constant velocity ratio of torque transmission.

I Constant velocity joints of the type indicated above and heretofore devisedhave comprised outer and inner driving and driven members coupled to each other by a series of torque-transmitting balls engaging registering meridian grooves or raceways in the adjacent spherical faces of said members. To obtain the desired constant velocity ratio of torque transmissionby controlling the movement of the balls so that they will operate in a plane bisecting the angle between the axes of the driving and driven members in each position of relative adjustment thereof, one type of velocity joint is constructed to confine the balls in the raceways by a cage received between the driving and driven members and having spherical faces in complementary engagement with similar surfaces of said members concentric to the pivot point around which the joint is angularly adjusted, the cage confining the balls in the raceways by the formation in the cage of a circumferential series of slots to hold the balls so that when the axes of the driving and driven members are at a considerable angle toeach other, the combined effect of the raceways and slots in the cage will adjust the cage to position the balls in a plane bisecting the angle. between the members. However, it has been found necessary to control the cage .during such action for, when the driving and driven members. are adjusted angularly from a position at, or near a'xial alignment, the structure does not function to compel the adjustment of the cage to position the balls to bisect the angle and, as a consequence, a binding action will occur which will resist or prevent the desired angular adjustment of the members and may result in breakage. This is due primarily to the fact that unavoidable inaccuracies in construction such as machining the engaging spherical surfaces of the driving and driven members and the cage to very close tol- 2 erances often result in clearances occurring between the surfaces of the same changing the structure from that of a true geometrical construction.

form, the cage is provided with eccentric spherical surfaces imparting a wedge shape crosssection thereto which compels a movement of the balls substantially one-half the relative angular movement of the outer and inner driving and driven members. It will be readily apparent that the formation of the eccentric surfaces on the driving and driven members and cage to secure proper functioning of the same for the purpose described is dependent on the machining of the members with extreme accuracy otherwise bind ing will result between the members and cage with consequent possible breakage. It has also been proposed to use auxiliary piloting devices utilizing spring-pressed means of various designs to maintain the ball cage in correct position which devices are impractical and unsatisfactory from a commercial standpoint because of the added cost and unreliability as the numberof parts of the joint are materially increased and the spring-pressed means must be accurately formed and positioned in the joint to function properly with the cage and associated driving and driven members as a slight imperfection in structure thereof or'improper cooperation with those parts of the joint might result in breakage.

A cageless universal joint has also been proposed utilizing a pilot member or retainer to control the movement of the balls to properly centered relationship and which comprises an annular pilot member located between the driving and driven members at one side of the plane of the balls and having complementary engagement with a spherical surface on one member or spherical surfaces on both members other than the directly engaged spherical surfaces of the driving and driven members, the pilot member moving with one or the other of these members and having fingers or prongs extending within the adjacent raceway passages of the members to engage the balls to move the same to a plane bisecting the angle between the axes of the driv ing and driven members upon angular adjustment of the same.

From the standpoint of economy in manufacture and continuous efficient functioning in operation of this joint, this joint has advantages over the joint utilizing a cage inasmuch as the cage is dispensed with and the spherical surfaces of the torque transmitting members are directly engaged whereby the inevitable inaccuracies of machining the surfaces of the driving and driven members and that of the cage and the lost motion due to inaccurate machining is cut in half with consequent saving and che'apness in mass production as well as less liability of improper functioning Of the joint in continuous use over a given length of time. However, in one proposed form, to obtain the desired angular adjustment of the balls, the annular pilot or retainer is provided with spherical surfaces'dis= posed eccentrically with respect to the spherical surfaces of the driving and driven members engaged therewith and to the pivot point of the joint and also the directly engaged spherical surfaces of the driving and driven members are disposed eccentrically to the pivot point of the joint, the eccentricities of all of these surfaces being calculated in accordance with certain geometrical principles to effect movement of the balls to their correct midway position by the retainer in conjunction with the surfaces. The manufacture of this joint is expensive due to the complicated formation of the eccentric surfaces to geometrical correspondence which requires exacting accuracy in machining these surfaces for obtaining correct ball-positioning operation of the pilot member and the driving and driven members and absence of binding action which will resist or prevent the desiredangular adjustment.

Another proposed form of constant velocity universal joint utilizing a retainer disposed at one side of the plane of the balls and at one end of the meridian raceways in the driving and driven members contemplates the formation of the engaged spherical surfaces of the driving and driven members andthe engaged surfaces of one of the members and the retainer concentrically with the common pivot point of the joint. In this form, to prevent the balls falling out of the opposite end of the raceways, which'would occur if the meridian raceways of the driving and driven members were concentric with the pivot point of the joint, the corresponding ball grooves or raceways of the driving and driven members are each arcuate in a direction of its length with the center of its are offset with respect to the centers of the driving and driven members so that the grooves will form wedging surfaces which resist improper displacement of the balls at the remote ends of the raceways' and the rotation of the balls in their midposition is effected. While these desirable results are provided, they are ob tained at a very great cost because it is expensive to accurately machine each of the 'arcuate ballengaging surfaces of the driving and driven members to a true radius and in a definite relation to the differing radius of the other spherically engaged surfaces of the driving and driven members.

The present invention has for its primary object the provision of a new and improved cageless constant velocity universal joint of the retainer type of relatively simple construction and which may be readily and inexpensively manufactured. To this end, the engaged spherical surfaces of the driving and driven members and also the spherical surfaces of one of these members and the retainer in engagement are all concentric to the pivot point of the joint, and the ball-engaging grooves of the outer and inner members are 4 each bored straight to provide cylindrical surfaces inclined radially and diverging toward the retainer, the angle of radial inclination of the diverging grooves being such as to form an included angle so that the bottom of each of the outside raceways of one of the members and the bottom of each of the opposed inside raceways of the other member never become parallel to allow the balls to roll out at the ends of the raceways remote from the retainer. By thus forming the spherical surfaces of the driving and driven and retainer members concentric with the pivot point of the joint, the construction of the joint is greatly simplified by avoi'ding the determination of the location of three or more spherical surfaces eccentric with respect to each other according to involved geometrical theory and thereafter maintaining the relative fixed position of the eccentrio surfaces during the machining operation which must be extremely accurate to positively and correctly position the balls in their midposition and to prevent binding and breakage during operation of the .joint. Furthermore, the ready formation of the raceways by boring the same as described avoids the extensive grinding of arcuate or curved ball-engaging raceways of the driving and driven members to a true radius in which a slight inaccuracy may result in an unequal distribution of the load on the various balls.

Another object of the invention is toprovide a joint as described wherein the component parts thereof are readily assembled and disassembled.

Other objects, the advantages and uses of the invention will become more apparent after reading the following specification and claims, and after consideration of the'drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an axial sectional View of a universal joint embodying my invention, taken as indicated by the line il of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same joint taken as indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a View on line 33 of Fig. 1 with ball retainer omitted;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the ball retainer; and

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 1 with the driving and driven members being shown disposed with their axes at an angle to each other so that the parts of the operating mechanism are in a different operative position.

As an example of one form in which the present invention may be embodied, there is shown in the drawings a constant velocity universal joint comprising male and female torque-transmitting elements it! and II, respectively, each adapted to be attached to one of a pair of shaft sections to be drivingly connected by the joint. One of said shaft sections is shown at l2 and is provided with a sp lined end portion l3 on which the male element or ball i0 is secured against relative movement by a flange I4 formed integral-with the shaft section I2 and engaging one end of the 'ele ment [0, a washer l5 engaging an annular 'shoul der I6 interiorly of the element l0 and cooperat ing with a bolt l1 threaded into the end 'of the shaft section 12 to-fi 'x the male element 10 on the shaft section. The other shaft section is shown at 18 as being formed at one end with an annular flange 19 to which is secured the female element II by means of bolts 20 passing through openings in the flange and into threaded openings in the female element It. Due to this connection between the female element I I and flange I3 of the shaft section, they may be considered collectively as asingle outer socket torque-trans.- mitting element connected to the shaft section I8. The shaft sections I2 and I8 are provided with means for confining lubricant within the joint such as a flexible boot'2I of any suitable oilimpervious material surrounding the shaft section I2 and being clamped against the adjacent end of the female element II' by a boot retainer 22, spaced from the shaft section I2 and engaging the element I I and the boot 2I to prevent lubricant leakage from the joint, a plug 23 being closely fittedwithin the cylindrical shaft section I8 to prevent the passage of oil orlubricant therethrough. r

.The female element II of the joint has an interior divided into a plurality of spherical zonal surfaces 24 by a plurality of ball raceways 25. The male element II] has an exterior surface broken up by a pluralityof ball raceways 26, opposed to the raceways'25 as shown'in Figs. 1 and 2, into a plurality of spherical zonal surfaces 21 in complementary engagement with the spherical zonal surfaces 24 of the element II to provide a ball and socket connection accommodating relative angular adjustment of the shaft sections about the pivot point of the joint indicated at A in Figs. 1 and 2, as the spherical zonal surfaces 24 and 21 of the-elements I0 and II are concentric to the pivot point A of the joint.

Each of the raceways 25 are semi-cylindrical and are inclined radially inwardly and toward the alignedv axes of the sections I2 and I8 as viewed in Fig. l, the angle of inclination being indicated at B in Fig. 1. The raceways 26 are also semicylindrical but are inclined. radially upwardly away from the aligned axes of the shaft sections I2 and I8, i. e., the direction of inclination of the raceways 26 being opposite to that of the opposed raceways 25. The male member If! is received within the female member II with each of its raceways 26 paired with a raceway 25 of the member II.

As the grooves or raceways 25 and 26 have the same angle of inclination though oppositely inclined-with-respect to the axes of the driving and driven members, these grooves in the male and female elements may be economically machined by amilling cutter disposed at the required angle to the axis of each of the male and female ele-- ments which/elements may be readily positioned in a machine movably fixing the cutter at the required angle of inclination to the axis of either of the members which are fixed in the machine but rotatable therein, or vice versa, so that it is possible to finish the ball races of themembers I0 and II in the same manner using the same machine for both members, the raceways 25 of the male member ID being bored straight through and the raceways26 of the male member If] to an extent determined .by the washer-engaging portions 21a of said member. The formation of the ball races in. the male and female elements I0 and I I in this manner by'machining the same straight bya milling operation affords a substantial economy over previous joints wherein the-ball races were curved.

Within each pair of opposed raceways 25 and 26 are disposed torque-transmitting balls 28. As previously described, the surfaces of the raceways are semi-cylindrical and therefore are semicircular in cross-section so as to substantially conform to the cross-sectional contour of the partially in a raceway 2-5 and partiallyin a race- 6 way 26 so that it may transmit torque between the driven and driving members II and I0.

To maintain the balls in position in the joint in a plane bisecting the angle between the axes of the driving and driven shaft sections during each position of relative adjustment thereof, the joint is provided with a ball retainer vor pilot member 29 which cooperates with the raceways 25 and. 26 for the accomplishment of this feature in the invention. More particularly, the retainer 29 is of disc form and has projecting fingers or prongs 36, each engaging a ball. The retainer is also annular in shape, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 having a central opening 3| into which extends the bolt I! in spaced relation to the retainer for a purpose which will appear as the description proceeds. The outer surface32 ofthe retainer is formed as a portion of a sphere and the inner surface 33 of the retainer is also spherical in form. The spherical surface 32 of the retainer is engaged by a complementary inner surface 34 on the adjacent end of the shaft section I8, the surfaces 32 and. 34 being machined concentric to the pivot point A of the joint. As clearly seenin Fig. 1, the spherical surface 33 of the retainer is in spaced relation to a similar surface zone 35 of the adjacent end of the male element In which is of smaller radius than the surface zone 21 of the element I0 and, accordingly, is offset therefrom by the extent indicated by the depth of the shoulder 36 on the element I0 dividing the surface zones 21 and 35. It will be apparent that inasmuch as the spherical surface zone 35 is spaced from the adjacent surface 33 of the retainer, these surfaces need not be machined concentric to the pivot point A'of the joint with the accuracy required in machining the surface 21 of the element In and the'surface 32 of the retainer. Also, as the surface 33 of the retainer does not engage the surface zone 24 of the female element II but is spaced therefrom the surface zones 24 of the element I I need only be substantially the area of the surface zones 27 of the maleelenient I6 which permits these surface zones to be formed hemi-spherical and thereby considerably expedites the formation ofthe engaged spherical surfaces of these elementsin the grinding and machining operation of each element by the application of a suitable 'tool performing'these functions along the axis of the element.

The opening in the female element ll,'defined on one end by the zonal surfaces 24, extends axially to the point of greatest radius of'the surfaces 24, at which shoulders 3611 are formed; Beyond the shoulders 36a the opening within the female element II is formed by cylindricalwalls 31 and the portion of the opening defined by the walls 3'! is of larger size than the largestdiam eter of the male element ID, as clearly shown inFig.l.

Describing the operation of thejoint, it*will be noted that when the shaft sections IZ and I8 are in axial alignment as illustratedin- Figpl', the balls 28 will be disposed in a plane'perpem dicular to the axis by the raceways 25 and 26 and the retainer 29 and will transmit torque from one of the shaft sections to the other shaft sec-i tion through the intermediary of the male and female elements I0 and II of the joint by virtue of engagement of the balls with the raceways provided in these elements It will be apparent that the racewaysare parallel with respect to each in theirdriving plane in these axial aligned positions of the' shaft sections and that the retamer 19 will operate to maintain the balls 28 against the bottom of the respective raceways associated therewith.

Upon angular displacement of the shaft section l2 relative to the shaft section 18, certain of said pairs of raceways 25 and 26 at one side of the axis of the joint Will have their axes disposed at a greater angle and thereby effect a wedging ac tion on the associated balls to cause the balls to move and rotate the retainer i9 which will urge the balls at the opposite side of the joint against the bottoms of their associated racewa-ys 25 and 25, whose axes are approaching parallel ism aswill be apparent from an inspection of the normal position of the joint in Fig. 1 to the angularposition as shown in Fig. 5.. Inasmuch as thisaction of the wedging surfaces and the retainer 29 on the balls is Simultaneous, the balls 28 will always be positioned in a plane bisecting the angle of the axes of the shaft sections l2 and i8 during relative adjustment of the same. It will be apparent that when the joint is operating at an angle, there are only two raceways opposite one another that are parallel or close to parallel, the other raceways-becoming crossed by the angle of the joint. These two raceways are suiiicient to prevent high thrust loads on the balls with its attendant overheating. With the raceway-s crossing in two planes, if analyzed, it will be noted that the balls will try to rollin two directions :at the same time. However, due to the parallelism of the raceways in their driving plane, it has been proven in actual practice that this action is almost negligible as previously noted, clearance exists between the inside of the retainer 29 and male element 10.

the outside of the retainer :having bearing engagement with the shaft section 18-. However, if desired, the inside of the retainer may have bearing engagement with the ball element H] and the outside-of the retainer may be spaced from the shaft section [8 without affecting the operation of the joint. In either case, the geometry of the crossed raceways in their driving plane is such that they will permit the spherical retainer to function perfectly as 'a sphere in conjunction with the balls. The joint of the present invention has been subjected to extensive experimental tests which-have satisfactorily proven and confirmed the foregoing statements with respect to the operation of the joint.

An important feature incorporated in the Joint of the presen-t invention, referring to Figs. 1 and 5, is that the included angle indicated at C formed by the: bottoms of each pair of raceways of the outer and inner elements I and H is great enough to exceed the operating angle of the universal joint so that the bottom of the outside raceway and the bottom of the inside raceway will' never' become parallel, as this would permit the balls to roll out of the raceways and cause damage to the universal joint assembly. Referring to Fig. #1., the angle C is formed by the -opp0'- sitely inclined bottoms of the raceways 2-5 and 216 of one pair of raceways, each pair of raceways 25 and 26 having a similar included angle in this position of the joint wherein the shafts are in axial alignment. Referring to Fig. -5 wherein is illustrated the shaft sections 12 and I8 having their axes angularly adjusted, it will be noted that the .pair of raceways Hand 26 at the bottom of the .joint form an included angle C substantiallygreater than the angle formed by the raceways in the normal position shown in Fig. 1 wherein the shaft sections 12 and 18 are in axial alignment. It will be apparent thatthe angular disposition of the bottom pair of raceways Hand 26 indicated by the angle C precludes any possibility of the ball rolling out of the ends of the raceways remote from the retainer and that the retainer 29 cannot possibly force the ball 28 out of th'eOpEn end of the raceways during angular adjustment of the shaft sections 12 and I8.

, The universal joint of the present invention is readily assembled and disassembled inasmuch as, in the assembly operation, the femaleelement H may bepositioned on the shaft section 12, the male element in thereafter being mounted on the splined endof the shaft 1 2 and secured thereto by 1 the washer l5 and bolt l'l. During assembling,-be-

fore the shaft section Hlhas been fixed, by means of bolts 29, to the "female element 11, it is clear that the male element 'l ll may be freely passed into the opening within the female element, due to the fact that the portion of the openingdefinedby the walls 31 is greater in size than'the largest diameter of the male element 10, to bring the hemispherical zonal surfaces 24 and '21 into engaging contact. The balls '28 are then inserted in the paired raceways of the male and. female elements 10 and H and thereafter the retainer element 29 may be engaged with the balls-whereupon the shaft section 18 may have its spherical surface 34 engaged with the surface 32 of the retainer and the (flange 1:9 of the section z|8 may be securely fastened to the female element II by meansof the bolts 20 to complete-theiassembly of the joint. The lubricant-retaining boot 21, and the plug 23 being assembled in customary manner with the other portions of the joint. "It will be apparent that vdisassembly of the joint may be readily secured by a reversal of the operations necessary to assemble the joint.

From the foregoing description of the invention, it will-be apparent that I have provided a universal joint "effective, during the operation of the joint, to transmit drive from either shaft to the other by balls adapted to have their movement controlled by piloting means to operatein a plane constantly bisecting the angle between the axes of the driving and driven shafts in each position of relative adjustment thereof so that the speed of rotation of the-shafts always remains the .same to provide a constant velocity ratio of torque transmission and that I also have provided a universal joint which is inexpensive to manufacture, simple and sturdy in construction, emcient in opera-tion, and which comprises a minimum :number'of easily assembled parts.

While the structure disclosed herei-nrepresents a preferred form and application :of the invention, it is to be understood that there are numerous other forms andapplications thereof which will be apparent to those skilled in the :art :and all of which are within the scope of the invention as Set forth inth'e appended claims.

I claim:

v1. In a universal .joint assembly, in combination, a male torque'transmitting:element having a hemispherical surface and a female torque transmitting element having an opening therein, the hemispherical surface of said male element terminating at its greatest radius, the opening in said female element being defined -0n'one end by a hemispherical surface and the 'male :element being disposed within :said female element with said hemispherical surfaces in engagement, the hemispherical surface "of said female -'element terminating at its greatest-radius and the-other end of said "opening being larger thanxsa'id ma'le element so that the male element is readily insertable within the female element to engage said hemispherical surfaces in the assembly of said elements, said hemispherical surfaces being provided with a plurality of pairs of registering raceways therein, a ball in each pair of raceways, and means maintaining said elements and balls in assembly.

2. In a universal joint assembly, in combination,

' hemispherical surface of said female element terminating at its greatest radius and the other end of said opening in said female element being larger than said male element so that the male element is readily insertable within the female element to engage said hemispherical surfaces in the assembly of said elements, said hemispherical surfaces being provided with a plurality of pairs of registering raceways therein, all of the raceways of each element being radially inclined toward one end of the element and having a radial inclination opposite to that of the raceways of the other element so that the deep ends of the raceways of the two elements are adjacent each other, a ball in each pair of raceways, pilot means for said balls disposed between said elements, having a spherical surface concentric with the pivotal axis of the universal joint and in engagement with a spherical surface of one of said elements, said pilot means extending within said deep ends of said raceways and engaging said balls and cooperating with said raceways to maintain said balls in a plane which always bisects the angle between the axes of said elements durin relative angular movement of the rotational axes of said elements, and means maintaining said elements, balls and pilot means in assembly.

3. In a universal joint assembly, in combination, a male torque transmitting element having a hemispherical surface and a female torque transmitting element havin an opening therein, the hemispherical surface of said male element terminating at its greatest radius, the opening in said female element being defined on one end by a hemispherical surface and the male element being disposed within said female element with said hemispherical surfaces in engagement, the hemispherical surface of said female element terminating at its greatest radius and the other end of said opening in said female element being larger than said male element so that the male element is readily insertable within the female element to engage said hemispherical surfaces in the assembly of said elements, said hemispherical surfaces being provided with a plurality of pairs of registering raceways therein, all of the raceways of each element being radially inclined toward one end of the element and havin a radial inclination opposite to that of the raceways of the other element so that the deep ends of the raceways of the two elements are adjacent each other, a ball in each pair of raceways, pilot means for said balls disposed between said elements having a spherical surface concentric with the pivotal axis of the universal joint, said pilot means extending within said deep ends of said raceways and engaging said balls for cooperatin with said raceways to maintain said balls in a plane which always bisects the angle between the axes of said elements during relative angular movement of the rotational axes of said elements, and a shaft member capping the large end of the openin in said female element and having a spherical surface in engagement with the spherical surface on said pilot means thereby maintaining said elements, balls and pilot means in assembly.

EDMUND B. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,975,758 Stuber Oct. 2, 1934 2,046,584 Rzeppa July 7,- 1936 2,319,100 Anderson May 11, 1943 2,321,448 Anderson June 8, 1943 

